Marketing Update: April 2023

Campaign Objective

Tourism Richmond’s (TR’s) destination brand campaign has the objective of increasing awareness, consideration, and visitation to Richmond BC. This campaign aligns with TR’s Community Engagement strategic pillar, where we seek to leverage the destination brand to differentiate Richmond and grow visitation with our target markets and audiences.

Target Market

The target markets for the 2023 campaign are:

• Primary: BC, Alberta (focus on Calgary, Edmonton), Washington State (focus on Seattle)
• Secondary: Ontario & Oregon

Compared to 2022, a significant change is elevating Washington State to a primary market, as much of the growth in visitation to BC is expected to be driven by international visitors (primarily from the US). In addition, Ontario has been shifted from a primary market to a secondary market, as in 2023 growth in domestic visitation is expected to begin to plateau. Further information on the forecasted recovery of Canada’s visitor economy and related trends is available in Destination Canada’s Fall 2022 Outlook.

Campaign Timing

With the removal of COVID-related travel restrictions (Canada & US), TR is returning to a more typical campaign cycle focused on higher-need periods. Our campaign will be in-market in the Spring & Fall, helping to drive visitation early in the year, and in the Fall and Winter.

Go-to-Market Approach & Campaign Creative

Tourism Richmond developed its 2023 paid media strategies and tactics within our campaign framework, which has three objectives: Inspire, Learn & Plan, and Act. Campaign media tactics include TV, digital video, digital banner ads, paid social media, and paid search. We are also investing in a targeted out-of-home campaign in the Seattle market to help drive awareness in this key market.

• Inspire: Create awareness and consideration of Richmond as a travel destination.
• Learn & Plan: Progress audiences along the path to conversion with relevant content and information about Richmond activities, attractions, and experiences.
• Act: Drive a measurable action or conversion, such as downloading the Richmond Savings Passport or signing up for TR’s consumer e-newsletter.

Creative Strategy: Pacific People. Authentic Welcome.

We are continuing the creative strategy that we launched in 2022, refreshed with new content (images, video) that we captured over the past two years. This approach celebrates the uniqueness of the people who make Richmond such an amazing and compelling place to visit, and share the wonderful collection of diverse cultures, experiences, and characters of Richmond.

Sample Creative Video: This year’s campaign includes new :30 and :15 spots which are now in-market. You can watch the :30 below, and the :15 spot here.

:30 Creative Video

Paid Social Ad Creative

Sponsored Content Article

Our campaign also includes sponsored content articles and targeted digital advertising to generate awareness and interest in Richmond. Below is a sample article that was recently published via the Matador Network and promoted Richmond’s vibrant culinary scene. Read the full article here.

Expedia (Canada & US)

Tourism Richmond will continue to have a presence on Expedia in the Canada and the US. This tactic enables us to reach consumers in key markets (e.g., Washington, Oregon, BC, Alberta, Ontario) by targeting audiences that show strong interest and intent to travel to BC (e.g., searching for flights and hotels in BC).

• In Canada, we are part of Destination Canada’s Expedia microsite, with a custom dedicated City Page for Richmond, BC.
• In the US we also have a dedicated destination page for Richmond BC.